The natural link between electricity and magnetism may be explained in part by a phenomenon known as magnetic flux. Electric current passing through an electrical conductor may induce magnetic flux in a proximate magnetic material. This induced magnetic flux may then be carried through a magnetic flux conductor to induce a second, electrically insulated current in an isolated proximate electrical conductor. This link between an electrically forced primary circuit, and a magnetic flux coupled but electrically insulated secondary electrical conductive circuit has been well studied—including countless configurations of the electrical conductors (windings) and the magnetic component (core). These properties of electromagnetism are used extensively to distribute energy by electric transmission lines. Generated electric energy (at low voltages) may be converted efficiently by inductive transformers to very high voltages which can be carried over long distances with minimal resistive heat losses, and then transformed similarly back to various much lower useful voltages for operating our world of countless electrically driven devices.
Improvement in the electrical power transmission capacity and efficiency by any fundamental variations of transformer winding (electrical conduction) or core configuration (magnetic flux), given the historic amount of study in this field would be a substantially unexpected result.
The long history of electricity transformer designs includes considerable efforts placed upon the configuration of the magnetic flux carrying segments of a transformer, also known as its core.
One of the oldest and most common configurations for transformers is an E-core transformer, which consists of many flat “E” shaped layers or laminations of magnetic material electrically insulated from adjacent layers to reduce eddy currents in the core. An insulated “I” shaped set of core laminations is the abutted to the “E” to form an “E-I” magnetic core.
Typical and well-known E core configuration transformers utilize the center leg of the E core to host both the primary and secondary windings. Conventional transformer configurations are commonly designed with the primary (high voltage) winding axially proximate to the core center axis, and the secondary (low voltage) winding wound on top of the primary winding. Non-magnetic and electrically insulating “bobbins” are generally used for electrical safety and to facilitate manufacturing. The electrical windings are spun onto the bobbins, which are then slid or pushed onto the selected core segment. A common bobbin configuration which is known as a “split” bobbin, separates and insulates the primary and secondary windings laterally from each other on the core center leg. Windings may consist of electrical wire wound around the core, or electrically conductive thin ribbons wrapped around the core.